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Saturday, June 4, 2011 | 4:07 p.m.
Sun Coverage
CARSON CITY – Sen. Shirley Breeden says a lot of people will be mad, but this bill is going to save lives.
Her comments came Saturday after the Senate gave final legislative passage to a bill that bans text messaging and using a cell phone while driving.
By a split voice vote, the Senate approved amendments adopted by the Assembly and sent Senate Bill 140 to Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Breeden, D-Henderson, said the bill would prompt many to buy earpieces because it would be illegal to hold a cell phone while driving.
With the governor's signature the bill will become effective July, 1 but law enforcement officers won’t be able to give citations until January. In the meantime, they can stop a motorist and issue a warning.
Under SB 140, the use of a cell phone is a primary offense and a motorist can be stopped for violating the law, as opposed to the seat belt law, which says not wearing a seat belt is a secondary violation.
The first offense is a misdemeanor with a $50 fine. The second offense carries a $100 fine and the third and later violations are a $250. Those convicted of a third offense will have their drivers’ license suspended for six months.
Law enforcement and fire officials would be exempted during their duties. The bill allows cell phones to be used in answering emergencies.
The bill was approved 12-9 in the Senate and 24-17 in the Assembly.
I suspect I have a lot of 'emergencies' in my future...
I guess it will be OK to use your cell phone if you have a blue tooth ear piece and can dial or answer the phone without raising it up. So, now you'll see people walking and driving all over with those funny looking ear pieces hanging off their face.
Is this the excuse everyone will use? Then I expect that law won't last very long!
Are you freaking kidding me? I've almost been run off the road because a dumb bunny was too busy talking on the phone to look over her shoulder many times. It's about damn time Vegas has this passed. Now lets see if those lazy cops will enforce it.
Just hold your wallet up to your ear, and wait while the cop tries to figure out what to charge you with.
Yeah Purgatory and it's the likes of you who forced this bill into law. The likes of you couldn't give a damn about others safety because your calls are so important and you're such an important person they just can't wait. Get a life ace.
How many people are going to be pulled over because the office "thought" they had a phone in their hand? Once you are pulled over, you can be subject to much more.
I'm not sure I like this at all.
Excellent law. Cell phone drivers are the worst. They are oblivious to what's happening around them.
@boftx
So what. We've got so many unregistered, uninsured vehicles on the roadways in Las Vegas..I think it's great that people get pulled over because a phone was in their ear and then upon further inspection the car is impounded because of lack of insurance, lack of license, lack of registration. Geez, let's start protecting those who are law abiding and prosecute those that are not.
This is a great law. Those who "have to" talk in their car can get a Bluetooth, speaker phone, etc. I'm tired of seeing these knuckleheads weaving, swerving, speeding up, slowing down and in general not paying attention to task at hand...driving!
It amazes me it has taken this long for this to happen. It seems to be a fairly "common sense" sort of thing to me to not talk on the phone or text while driving. I'm glad to see something happening, though.
TomD1228,
If you have never been hassled by a cop on a routine stop then you really don't know how important our Fourth Amendment is.
I was pulled over in Glendale, California once for not having a registration sticker on my plates. The catch was that I had Texas plates and the registration sticker is on the windshield. I was completely legal, but he and his partner grilled me for almost 45min, including searching my trunk. They found my wife's purse in there and they started thinking foul play since she wasn't with me at the time.
Metro scares the hell out of me as it is, I don't want them to have any more power than they already have to make life miserable (or deadly) for innocent people.
This law makes it even easier for cops to trample over us without just cause.
It is about time that this law was passed. I don't know how many times a day I see people with a cell phone glued to their ear driving down the road. And if your not using your cell phone then you have nothing to worry about.
"And if your not using your cell phone then you have nothing to worry about." - el_diablo_loco
Don't bet on it.
The number of traffic accidents will go way down.
Yeah Gomerpyle, another non thinker who believes freedom allows you to infringe on others safety. Let me ask you a question Mr pyle, why can't you walk down the strip firing a pistol into the air? Freedom is not, under your obvious misconception, to behave in any manner that may harm others. I just don't understand anyone is against this law. But then again LV has been voted the top of the uneducated,hasn't it
Why do I feel this is to trap tourists that will be clueless why they're being pulled over... but hey at least it will bring in more money for the city... perhaps enough to where we can build a stadium... we'll call it.."Tourist Trap Ball Park".
Driving is a privilage not a Right. Obuse it loose it. Second who wants to live with the memory of causing an accident or even worse a fatility because talking on a phone was a priority. Less accidents and etc and insurance rates go down. All of us who do not talk or text while driving should be protected against people who think they do not have to follow the rules of the road.
Well...if the cognitively impaired governor can sign this into law it is a reasonable first step. Meanwhile: http://www.unews.utah.edu/old/p/062206-1...
"The study reinforced earlier research by Strayer and Drews showing that hands-free cell phones are just as distracting as handheld cell phones because the conversation itself -- not just manipulation of a handheld phone -- distracts drivers from road conditions.
Human Factors Editor Nancy J. Cooke praised the study: "Although we all have our suspicions about the dangers of cell phone use while driving, human factors research on driver safety helps us move beyond mere suspicions to scientific observations of driver behavior.""
@boftx
If you live your life being scared of the police...you've got other problems. Good luck with that attitude. Sounds like a pretty ridiculous story you rehashed. You're pulled over for a registration issue and suddenly they suspect you of foul play? LOL.
Never had an issue or problem with cops myself. They have a tough job and get my full support. This cell phone law is long past due.
The sheep are out in full force. Yay for government, more government! Thank you for protecting me, government. It feels so good to cede more power to the government for the illusion of safety. What behaviors can we outlaw next? TomD tells me police never abuse their authority, so I have nothing to worry about.
Go to Glendale sometime, they are as bad or worse than Metro. There was one incident where they arrested a black man for picking up a wallet from the ground. After keeping him in jail for 24 hours they let him go after they discovered it was his.
I was raised to trust cops, but after 57 years on this planet I no longer have that attitude, especially in this town.
"The sheep are out in full force."
Talk about a mindless cliche on the cheap by someone more interested in drawing attention to himself, saying "look at me! Look at me! Watch me 'THINK DIFFERENT!,' ", than responsibly weighing the consequences of continuing to do nothing about a dangerous practice that people themselves have proved unwilling to control.
Junior, there is a reason society and the need for the rule of law evolved. And just because the rest of us have found broad agreement on this, doesn't mean any one of us hasn't seriously been considering this, individually. Get back to us when you have something interesting to say, instead of just jumping up and down for attention.
I am usually against more government laws and regulations. But in this case, I personally have experienced far too many individuals who have either crossed into my lane or merged without really taking the time to look or many other situations too numerous to write here. They all were on cell phones.
I support this law.
This is just a way to generate revenue in three different ways. 1) Sell Headsets(Personal property tax) 2) Taxes from Headsets (Pay the state) 3) Court fees. (Taxes for not paying the head phone store and the state tax bill) Don't triple tax people up for using their phones in their cars. FIX THE PROBLEM - poor quality head sets with cumbersome setup and lousey software to voice text! Oh and BTW: Phones and Headsets are currently believed to cause Brain Cancer! Let's force people to use Cancer causing equipment!
This is just another repetitive law that will not work the way it was meant. We bought phones to help us in more ways then facebook and texting. I run my business with a cell phone and find locations with the maps ap.
We already have laws on the books that address this issue, "negligent driving"
btw, How about we make seat belt laws primary offenses, This will save lives.
Vegas drivers are some of the worst in the nation. Banning cell phones will do little to improve this. Common courtesy and decorum cannot be taught or forced upon people.
I believe the last death in the Las Vegas valley caused by texting or cell phone use according to news reports was in 2004 and that person was texting and tuning the radio.
So all this BS about saving lives is a bunch of BS.
If a person is dumb enough to text or dail phone numbers while going 30+ mph then they will dumb enough to ignore this new law.
I don't care that law passed or not passed.
It is a big nothing.
It will give another excuse for cops to pull people over to check for DUI's or drug carries.
So if you like cops gone wild then it is a good law.
Well, it was bound to happen that I agree with Mr. Schaffer...as you indicated, holding a cell phone is certainly not the issue...millions of us do it daily without crashing into things...good work, Mr. Schaffer...unfortunately, most of our fellow commenters will not bother with factual information, as emotions, perceptions, and anecdotal stories rule their lives...worse, of course, is that we are subjected to their lives ruling ours...
Gomerpyle so you think freedom is the right to endanger someone. No ace, that is abuse of freedom. And because of people like you we have to have rules. It's you who is the non thinker and it's you who should live in Cuba or China because you obviously do not respect the freedom that we have. And that goes to all the others who think being told what to do is an infringement on your rights. It's because of your infringements on others rights that forces laws to be made. And that is that.
It's OK to be correct once in a while Purgatory...
;-)
I will add two serious comments to Purgatorie's comment.
1) The study I referenced makes it clear that using a cell phone increases the risk of accident to the same degree (or more!) that driving intoxicated does.
2) The person on the other end of your conversation, unlike a person who is in the car with you, has no idea when to stop talking and let you focus on keeping yourself out of an accident.
Since you can't prove a negative, just how many people will NOT be killed or seriously maimed because more people will now decide to pull over to text or take a call can never be known. So-called anti-government opponents of this common sense new law will poo-poo the thought. So be it. The same people would have argued against requiring cars to come equipped with brakes, if such had been an issue in 2011.
I'm no fan of surrendering our liberties, and I'm as suspicious of the competence and benevolence of some *individuals* on Metro as the next guy. But I give the majority of them the benefit of the doubt. And I reject simplistic formulas when it comes to making real, flexible decisions about how we all are to live together in our shared community.